Mallika Sherawat bares Curves for 7 Up

7Up Curvy has a brand ambassador who swears by her curves.

What's Mallika Sherawat and a fizzy drink have in common? The bottle shape, of course!

For those who came in late, Mallika Sherawat is the "brand ambassador" for the new 7 Up Curvy, the latest lime drink from Pepsi India. The cola bottle has a curvy shape, hence the name 7 Up Curvy.

In the television promo, the sexy bombshell Mallika Sherawat is a princess. When she rubs the lamp, a genie emerges and offers to fulfill to her wishes. Mallika the Princess wants to be "more beautiful, curvy and cooler than them all." Now, The genie is none other than Fido Dido. Fido Dido snaps his fingers and in a flash - she is 7Up Curvy!

The Mallika Sherawat 7 Up ad must be the first-ever to have the brand named after its brand ambassador's silhouette. In earlier cases of companies pushing models, many brands - Paris Hilton, Shah Rukh Khan - were named after their brand endorsers.

Prior to the TV ad launch, the Mallika Sherawat 7 Up Curvy campaign was started by the "Mallika MMS" campaign on the internet. Surfers clicking on links pointing to Mallika MMSs were guided to a page, where a semi-naked curvy Mallika lay waiting. The contest question was - What will happen once Mallika rubs the lamp & the gene emerges. (This author answered that the genie would return the favour by rubbing her - it didn't win the prize) The lucky 50 got to meet Mallika.

The Mallika MMS was a strategic decision - a year back, a porn MMS emerged in India, featuring an actor which had an amazing similarity to Mallika Sherawat. It was named the Mallika MMS. The MMS even had a background score of music from her movie Murder, a steamy movie released the previous year. It was wildly speculated that the actor was captured on candid camera when she was in Cannes.

The MMS spread like wild fire, and landed on the Web. The actor denied that it was her, from behind held-back tears. Mallika Sherawat even filed a case against unknown persons who made and circulated the MMS.

Well, no one was arrested for making the MMS. Later, it turned out that it was a Mexican actress Lolly who featured in the video. However, this did not douse the wild interest in the Mallika MMS. By advertising the "Mallika MMS" 7 Up ensured that a good proportion of those who saw the link clicked and went to the contest page.

Speaking about her Curvy brand, Mallika Sherawat said: "It is a great honour for me to be 7UP's brand ambassador and unveil the brand new - 7UP 'Curvy' bottle. I am positive that the new curvaceous look will be a rage with the youth. I am also certain the exciting new 7UP 'Curvy' TVC will be much appreciated; I, personally, had a wonderful experience shooting for the commercial and I hope all 7UP fans love it", adds the brand ambassador Sherawat.

Fido Dido, Pepsi's toon ambassador at its launch nearly two decades back, was sidelined for long, when the cola companies competitively lured Bollywood stars. Pepsi and Coke still heavily lean on Bollywood for brand ambassadors. Still, the 7 Up Curvy ad is somewhat a rehabilitation for the toon ambassador.

The Mallika Sherawat 7 Up Curvy TVC was designed by JWT and directed by Prahlad Kakkar.The 7Up Curvy will also be promoted through outdoor hoardings, wireless and mobile media. The ad sports the tagline "Andaaz Sabse Cool."